All manner and variety of absorbent articles configured for the absorption of body fluids such as menses, urine and feces are, of course, well known. With respect to feminine protection devices, the art has offered two basic types; sanitary napkins have been developed for external wear about the pudendal region while tampons have been developed for internal wear within the vaginal cavity for interruption of menstrual flow therefrom. Such tampon devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,833, entitled "Tampon Applicator", issued to Weigner, et al. on Nov. 1, 1983, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,986, entitled "Tampon Assembly With Means For Sterile Insertion", issued to Jacobs on Nov. 8, 1983.
Hybrid devices which attempt to merge the structural features of the sanitary napkins and the tampons into a single device have also been proposed. Such hybrid devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,092,346, entitled "Catamenial Pad", issued to Arone on Sep. 7, 1937, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,372, entitled "Feminine Hygiene Protective Shield", issued to Denkinger on Sep. 16, 1975. Other less intrusive hybrid devices are known as labial or interlabial sanitary napkins and are characterized by having a portion which at least partially resides within the wearer's vestibule and a portion which at least partially resides external of the wearer's vestibule. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,527, entitled "Sanitary Pad", issued to Jacks on Dec. 15, 1953, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,062, entitled "Labial Sanitary Pad", issued to Lassen, et al. on Dec. 23, 1986.
Interlabial pads have the potential to provide even greater freedom from inconvenience because of their small size and reduced risk of leakage. Numerous attempts have been made in the past to produce an interlabial pad which would combine the best features of tampons and sanitary napkins while avoiding at least some of the disadvantages associated with each of these types of devices. Examples of such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,049 issued to Delaney on Dec. 15, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,235 issued to Harmon on Jan. 7, 1969, U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,392 issued to Johnson, et al. on Jun. 17, 1986, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,074,855 and 5,336,208 issued to Rosenbluth, et al. on Dec. 24, 1991 and Aug. 9, 1994 respectively, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,429 issued to Vukos, et al. on Jan. 16, 1996. A commercially available interlabial device is the "FRESH 'N FIT PADETTE" (also known as "IN-SYNC") interlabial pad which is marketed by Athena Medical Corp. (now known as A-Fem) of Portland, Oreg. and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,983,873 and 4,175,561 issued to Hirschman on Oct. 5, 1976 and Nov. 27, 1979, respectively.
Many of these devices have not met with great commercial success, however. There are drawbacks associated with all of the above products. For example, the device described in the Delaney patent does not appear to be capable of an easy and comfortable insertion, due to the possibility of the layers of absorbent material opening up during insertion. The commercially available "PADETTE" interlabial devices suffer from the disadvantage that the blunt edges of the device may cause wearer discomfort. Such blunt edges also increase the tendency of fluids deposited near the edges of the product to run off its edge without being absorbed into the center of the product. U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,873, issued to Hirschman, does describe an interlabial device having tapered ends, but such tapered ends are purely linear. This configuration does increase the surface area presented for absorption as compared to a non-tapered product, but the product of the present invention increases such area even beyond that achievable with the Hirschman device. Additionally, the speed at which the "PADETTE" interlabial device can be manufactured is limited due to its incorporation of stitching with thread. Interlabial devices without flexible extensions may not reliably cover the urethra and/or the vaginal introns during all body movements (e.g. when the wearer is squatting). Such products may also not be reliably expelled when the wearer urinates.
It has been found during development of the present invention that product comfort can be increased by providing an interlabial device with increased stiffness relative to compressive forces in the center of the product, but decreased stiffness relative to such forces near the ends of the product. The stiffer product center contributes to a greater ease of insertion and a better placement of the device within the labia as compared to prior art products. Correspondingly, the greater compressibility (or decreased stiffness) near the ends of the device contributes to greater comfort associated with wearing of the device.
Therefore, a need exits for an interlabial device with shaped edges which increase the total absorbent area of the product facing toward the floor of the vestibule. A need also exists for an interlabial device with a relatively less compressible center and relatively more compressible ends. A need also exists for an interlabial device, which can be manufactured at high speeds with a minimum of waste. A need also exists for an interlabial device that is small in size and that can be easily inserted and that provides protection against incontinence, menstrual discharges, and discharges of bodily exudates throughout a great range of wearer motions. A need also exists for an interlabial device that will reliably be expelled when the wearer urinates. A need also exists for an interlabial device which facilitates sanitary insertion and removal. That is, a need exists for at device which may be inserted into the interlabial space of a wearer while covering the fingertips, thus preventing the fingertips from touching the inside surfaces of the labia.